Game of power
by DarknessBloodAngel
Summary: "Okay, so obviously this is one fight that can't end in a handshake," Katherine looked Elena in her eyes, and tossed her away from her, releasing her hand in mid-air, throwing her further that was necessary. She walked towards Elena as she skidded across the floor. "Game on," she declared dangerously. - An alternative ending to the Katherine/Elena showdown in The Walking Dead.


**(A/N) Hey, hey guys. Here's something a little different from my Klamon stories/oneshots. I wanted to write this, because the Katherine/Elena fight-scene was crap. Seriously, S2 we saw Kathy take on Stefan and Damon at the same time, now she almost got killed by Elena. What the hell? Anyway, reviews would be like **_**gold**_** right now, so please leave some. **

**Warnings: Major Elena bashing, literally (and not so literally).**

~ooOOoo~

Katherine folded her arms, impatiently watching Bonnie while she was holding the rock in her hands. Her eyes were closed, and she was chanting under her breath. She wasn't going to deny that Bonnie was skilled, she knew a good witch when she saw one, but why did spells have to take so long?!

Rock's rumbled far in the distance, echoing in the tunnels behind her. Deciding to investigate, rather than watch Bonnie chant over a heavily bleeding rock, Katherine pushed herself off the wall and retreated into the tunnels. It would have been extremely nerve-wracking if she was human, but she was a vampire, and her senses gave her an edge on whoever was there.

"Silas..." she sang quietly into the darkness, "come and get me..." she dared him. Air whistled through her ears, and rocks continued to fall. Someone, whether it was Silas she couldn't tell, definitely wanted to get her. But after five centuries of running from Klaus, and repeated hostile welcomes from Stefan and Damon, she was used to it.

Katherine took a few steps forwards, whipping her head around to catch sight of the unseen vampire. The sounds stopped, and a blanket of silence swept over the tunnels. Katherine stilled, her hearing picking up the slightest movement. Pain suddenly flooded her lower half, and she realised someone was holding her shoulder with force hard enough to bruise a human. A stake was pushed further into her stomach, and she found herself looking at converse shoes.

_Elena_.

She yanked the stake out of Katherine's stomach, and pulled her head up. "Hello, Katherine," she growled. It took Katherine a split second to realise that Elena had turned her emotions back on. Her eyes were full of them, but one, the one that would break the dam and flood her, stood out. Anger was blazing in her eyes, and Katherine could see that the Petrova fire inside of her was fully lit and burning with an intensity.

Katherine felt Elena shoving her up some stairs. Elena kicked her in the back, and she fell to her knees. Katherine quickly glanced around the room, nursing her wounded stomach, catching sight of grey walls, and a large contraption oozing smoke that was connected to a pair of pipes which ran the length of the wall opposite her, and snaked along the ceiling before coming down through the floor behind her.

"I let you out of your cage, and this is how you thank me?" Katherine asked incredulously, staring up at Elena from the floor. She had done her ungrateful little Doppelganger a favour, she saw how the Salvatore's were treating her, not that she cared about _that_, she just wanted to see how long she could last as a vampire before everyone tried to save her again. Apparently it wasn't long.

Elena stopped in her pacing for a moment, and her face hardened with rage again. "No. _This_ is how I thank you," Katherine was harshly yanked from the ground quicker than she could process, and she felt Elena pushing against her. She fought back, but the stake had weakened her considerably. If only she could get it and-

Searing hot pain flared up in Katherine's cheek, and she screamed. She couldn't help herself. Her eyes were scrunched up from the pain, but she didn't need to be a genius to figure out that she was being held against a boiling hot pipe. While she continued to scream, Elena's hand pushed down harder on her head, making her more alert.

"You have done nothing but suck the happiness out of my life," Elena said over the sound of her own screams. Katherine was pulled away from the pipe, and she staggered momentarily. The pain in her face faded, but the adrenaline kicked in and began pumping through her body. "Well, now I get to kill you," Elena said as if it actually seemed fair. Katherine was only surviving, it wasn't _her_ fault - not directly at least - that Silas completely drained Jeremy, and she would _always_ look out for herself.

Katherine saw Elena getting her stake ready beside her, throwing it up in the air and catching it in a very Damon-esque way. She had to give Elena the slip and make her think she was weak if she was going to survive this. Elena came forward, weapon raised, and Katherine held her arms in front of her defensively, hating herself for the words she was about to say, "No, wait- please!"

Elena smirked. "Goodbye Katherine," she growled. Katherine narrowed her eyes, the act gone, and saw the stake streamling through the air, heading for her heart. She caught Elena's wrist with a superior display of reflex, and her eyes widened in surprise. Katherine chuckled, Elena thought _she_ had the upper hand in this? No, Katherine would always be one step ahead.

Elena's bones were crunching under Katherine's grip, and the stake clattered to the ground, while Elena uttered a cry of surprise. "Okay, so obviously _this_ is one fight that can't end in a handshake," Katherine looked Elena in her eyes, and tossed her away from her, releasing her hand in mid-air, throwing her further that was necessary. She walked towards Elena as she skidded across the floor. "Game on," she declared dangerously.

Elena chuckled and was up in an instant. A smug look was in her eyes, and Katherine clenched her fists at the ready. To the residents of Mystic Falls, she might have looked like a girl with an affinity for fashion and nothing else, but that front was encasing a monster inside, one who wouldn't go down easily. "I was trained by Alaric-"

Katherine cut Elena off, deciding she was far too big for her boots. "Which doesn't make you an invincible warrior princess capable of taking everyone down," she pointed out. The stake had only weakened her momentarily, and if anything, it was thanks to the hot pipe that she was up and thrumming with adrenaline right now. "If anything, it's been getting to your head quite a bit. I think I have something for that," Katherine smirked, and smacked Elena upside the head, using a fraction of her vampire strength. Elena grunted as she landed on the floor, and stared up at her, looking _pissed_.

"Now, these boots cost five-hundred dollars and I don't really feel like ruining them, but if they're inflicting as much pain on you as possible, then I can get a refund," Katherine heard the rush of air before Elena was feet away from her, and caught her wrist in an iron grip, twisting it painfully, exactly the way Rebekah had done to her back in that Café, and Elena's bones cracked exactly the same way. "But back to this training thing, Stefan and Damon have _military_ training - you know, back from when they were both in a war and some point in time - and they couldn't take me down, but you wanna try, go ahead."

Katherine let Elena go, not bothering to shove her away, she was ready for any potential attack, even a from the behind sneak attack by Elena's little puppets known as Stefan and Damon. Instead, Katherine felt herself being shoved towards the hot pipe again, and she straightened up, throwing Elena into the air with all her might. Katherine's face glowered in excitement as Elena's body smacked into the wall, rolling backwards onto the ground.

She walked towards her, watching as Elena got onto her knees, groaning as she put a hand to her head. Katherine saw blood trickling down the side of her head, and all she had on the matter was _'Good Riddance'_. "I'm five-hundred years old, Elena. Did you really think I wouldn't learn how to fight? Just because I'm not all ragged, and beating up cinderblocks in tacky tracksuits, doesn't mean I don't know how to land a punch," she pulled Elena up by the scruff of her shirt, and drove her fist into Elena's face. The bones of her nose cracked under the force, and it started to bleed heavily.

Katherine smirked, triumphant as Elena was breathing shallowly from the pain. "See?" she gloated, and she decided to taunt her further, "what's the matter, angry I'm not on the ground worshiping your hyped-up ass?"

"I am _not-_" Katherine choked Elena harshly before she had the chance to defend herself with whatever meagre, pathetic reason she had hidden away in that small brain of hers.

"Oh but you are," Katherine could see it, she was certain a blind man could see it. Everyone always asked 'how high?' whenever she said 'Jump', it was sickening. She wanted everything done her way, and believed that _she_ was right all the time, or that she was in the right when she was really in the wrong. Like killing Kol, she had defended herself to Klaus by saying that he had been trying to cut off Jeremy's arm, and that she didn't have a choice, but Klaus was right with the fact that Kol wouldn't have gotten inside if Elena hadn't set a trap for him. _She_ orchestrated his death, no-one else, everyone just agreed like the mindless drones they were.

Katherine continued speaking, her grip tightening on Elena's throat. She was limp, and not fighting back. _What happened to the whole "I'm gonna kill you spiel?" _Katherine wondered. "Everyone has you so far up on a pedestal you think you're some sort of a goddess, well guess what? You're just average honey," The fact was there, plain and simple, laid out on the table.

"A carbon copy of me. But with tacky nails and knock-off hair," Katherine flicked at one of the curls hanging from Elena's shoulder, and threw her on the ground again. She was going to thoroughly enjoy this.

Katherine stamped on Elena's stomach, hearing her wheeze. She lurched upwards, and blood spilled from her mouth. Katherine's entire world then did a somersault, and she hit her head on the ground, feeling dizziness overtake her for a split second. She felt Elena's weight on top of her, and hard punches rained down on her. Katherine flung her arms up, protecting her face, and waiting for the moment that one would be off kilter.

As the blows continued to hit against her arms, Katherine had, had enough, and shoved against Elena with all her strength, pushing the raging vampire off of her. She kicked Elena against the wall, and again when Elena rushed forwards for the rebound. Both of their faces were bleeding heavily, and Katherine knew she may have looked worse than Elena, but Elena was feeling the pain more strongly. She could tell it in the way she held herself.

Elena rushed forward, and Katherine caught her, locking one arm behind her back, and forcing her into a hunched over position. Elena growled and struggled, punching out with her other arm, but it did no good. Katherine pushed her harder, smashing her skull against the ground. She screamed in pain, and Katherine kept a hold of her shoulders, twisting her body around like a rag doll, and letting go the minute Elena was feet away from the boiler. She hit into it with a crunch, and shrieked as her exposed skin touched the metal.

This time Katherine was the one to make the first attack, she leapt for Elena, hissing and snarling. Her vampire visage was popping out from beneath her skin, she could feel it in the way her skin burned with rage. Her blood was literally boiling. Her fangs embedded themselves into Elena's neck, and she flung Elena towards the center of the room, tearing away from her neck hastily, splattering blood everywhere.

She jumped onto Elena, and punched her hard in the face, over, and over again, savouring every time a bone cracked and blood appeared. Elena struggled and fought back relentlessly, her hair whipping about her bloody face. Katherine grunted at the impact of Elena's fist connecting with her nose, but it wasn't hard enough to move her. She was more resilient to pain, especially after her encounter with Rebekah.

"I hate you so much!" Elena screamed, Katherine got up, and yanked her up by her hair, and punched her in the face, sending her flying to the ground.

Katherine wiped at her bloody nose, feeling it heal under her fingers. She gave it a gentle push, and it clicked back into place. "Feeling's mutual, _princess,_" she kicked Elena's stomach, and she landed painfully hard on her back, "but people hate you too," Katherine stated.

Elena pushed herself up from the ground, doubling over and wheezing from the pain of Katherine's kick. "I had my humanity off when I-"

"Yeah, yeah, like I said, people hate you," Katherine really didn't want to hear her excuses, she hated the bones of her Doppelganger, even before she was a vampire. If anything, eternal life just made her more of a spoilt, whiny brat than ever. "Stop making excuses all the time, it's not gonna win you any points. If anything, I'll get some for ridding Mystic Falls of it's most annoying resident."

Elena growled and charged at Katherine with super-speed. Their arms grappled for a split second, before Katherine gained the upper hand, and spun Elena round into a painful arm-lock, making sure to break some bones. Katherine eyed the hot pipe as Elena fruitlessly struggled against her, and rammed her against it, just as she had her.

Elena's screams were louder, more defeaning, but Katherine couldn't hear anyone rushing to her rescue for once. Everyone probably thought Elena had the upper hand and was on the brink of killing her. Katherine knew nobody would be upset to see her go, but she was _not_ going to be beaten and humiliated by a baby vampire who was a few months old. "Deja Vu, huh Elena? Maybe I'll be the one who feels the warmth of your chest cavity as I rip out your heart and watch your face as you realise I took it from you," Katherine let Elena go, pushing her over her boot, and she fell to the ground again, smashing her skull against it.

"How do you know what I said this morning?" Elena asked weakly. Katherine could see that she was weakening, but the Petrova fire inside both of them was blazing at its peak, and the fight wouldn't be over until one of them had won, and one of them had lost.

"I will always have little helpers Elena, they'll be where you least expect them because I always need to stay one step ahead. Even with Klaus shacking up in New Orléans, I'm still not home-free and running with the bulls yet," Katherine stated, Klaus _was_ still an issue, but she guessed she wasn't high on his list of priorities right now. But what was high on _hers_, was killing her Doppelganger.

Elena got up again, her face bloody, but determined. Katherine folded her arms, laying back on the situation as to gain the upper hand if needed be. "You won't be for much longer!"

Katherine shook her head, tutting. "Like I said before, Elena, being trained by _one_ man does not make you invincible. You couldn't even beat up Caroline, the only reason she wasn't trying is because she didn't want to hurt you. Well guess what, I don't care about that," she breathed, walking closer. Elena's foot swung upwards for her stomach, but Katherine caught it, and flung it downwards, hearing a nasty crunch. "And I can," she gripped Elena by the throat, and shoved her against the wall, holding her high in the air, "and _will_, hurt you."

Elena kicked out, squirming and struggling, but none of her hits were precise, or inflicting pain on Katherine however. She chuckled and pulled Elena down the wall. Her head snapped to the side as Elena's fist made contact, and she looked satisfied, and was trying to free herself. Katherine turned back to face her, grinning through bloody lips, and delivered her own punch, bursting one of Elena's eye sockets.

"If you want to inflict more damage," Katherine drove her knee up into Elena's stomach, forcing out the last gasps of air she had left, "come back in a few hundred years, hun," Katherine grabbed hold of Elena's head, and pushed downwards, flipping her onto her back.

"No, I'll be the one to kill you," Elena remained firm in her quest for revenge, but Katherine was having none of it. The fight had taken too much a toll on her, she had a bloody nose, shattered ribs, one burst eye socket, and was fighting a losing battle. "You killed my brother!"

Katherine watched her as she got up again, but took satisfaction in knowing that she was too weak to try anything. "And you killed two of Klaus', I'm surprised he hasn't ripped you to shreds yet," she was genuinely surprised about that, since Katherine had killed herself to escape permanent death as a human, and Elena murdered two of Klaus' brothers, and got off without a scratch. It was time to knock her down a few pegs, and what better way to do it, than before her imminent death?

"You know, being the girl that Stefan and Damon are fighting over doesn't give you immunity from the truth. And I'm going to give it to you, whether your 'precious being' can take it or not. So you are going to shut up and listen," Katherine walked towards her, hearing Elena's blood rush through her as her anger controlled her. She didn't care, Katherine had already seen the extent of Elena's fighting skills, and they were pretty shabby.

"You are no better than me in terms of Stefan and Damon, you tell Stefan you'll be together forever, then you jump into bed with his brother," she smirked at the look of horror and confusion on Elena's face, and silently thanked her little helpers for being _so_ helpful. More than what had been necessary. "Don't even get me started on the fact that you're an insult to vampires. You won't feed on humans and the _second_ something goes bad for you, you shut your emotions off."

"I get it, I killed your brother, but I lost my baby, and then my _entire_ family _at once_. Imagine that, just coming home and finding them dead in pools of their own blood," she hissed. That had been the most horrific thing Katherine had ever seen in her life. All her family in the same room, some with their hearts torn out, and some with swords deep in their chests. It had hardened Katherine forever, and made her the woman that she was. "I sympathise with you there, Elena, but that's where it begins, and ends."

"I haven't turned my humanity off in all the years I've been alive, and I've suffered probably as much as you, if not more," Katherine pointed out. Elena's face began to soften slightly, but the anger was still brimming in her eyes. Katherine still had plenty more where that came from. "What makes you so special that everyone fawns over you?" she asked, strolling around Elena like a panther.

"What gives you a get-out-of-jail-free card after you tried to kill both of your best friends, killed a waitress, _ridiculed_ me, and became an exact copy the minute you became entangled with Stefan and Damon?" Katherine taunted her, hearing the cogs in her brain turning, but she wasn't going to leave a big enough gap of silence to let Elena pathetically defend his actions. "At least I had the sense to walk away from them and know how I feel about each of them, but you can't bear to be without them both."

"You're no better!" Elena yelled, Katherine rolled her eyes. She was Elena before Elena was even born, now she was no longer Katerina Petrova, she never felt bad about anything she did, Stefan and Damon included. She did feel something for both of them, but it was more like the affection a pet dog would receive.

"Really, _that's_ your pathetic argument? At least I own up to it, face it. You run and hide, or get mad at the first person who doesn't worship you," Katherine chuckled, and Elena looked ready to unleash an acidic comeback, but Katherine cut her short.

"So think of me killing you as Caroline's revenge, Bonnie's revenge, Stefan and Damon's revenge - I know deep down they'd love to spill the beans to you - even Rebekah, Kol and Klaus' revenge," she bent down to pick up the stake which had lain on the ground, forgotten by Elena, "and most importantly, _mine_."

Elena's eyes widened in horror, but Katherine ignored her, and quickly wrapped a hand around her throat before she had a chance to try and escape. She squeezed as hard as she was physically able, and Elena's face was flushing a bright red while she squirmed in the unbreakable hold. Katherine smirked, what in the Hell gave her the idea that she could take on a vampire who had five centuries on her?

"Katherine, please!" she choked out in a strained voice, clasping both her hands to Katherine's wrist, trying to wrench it off - probably the way Alaric taught her, which was very shabby - but Katherine wasn't going to give. She had, had enough of Elena whining about how bitterly unfair her life had been, Katherine was certain everyone else in Mystic Falls had too.

Watching her Doppelganger struggle at her mercy brought a wicked smirk to Katherine's face. _Oh how the table's have turned,_ she thought wickedly. Moment's ago, _she_ had been the one begging for her life - albeit she was faking to get the upper hand - now it was Elena. Elena Gilbert, her carbon copy, and weaker opponent. Just as it should be. Katherine leaned in towards Elena's ear, tucking her hair behind it, and whispered the five chilling words that had carried her throughout eternity.

"Better you die than I."

Silence swept through the room momentarily. It was eerie, even Elena had stopped moving. Her doe eyes were shining and staring up at Katherine with sadness, regret and... _smugness_? Katherine's jaw quivered in anger, Elena didn't believe she would kill her? Well she would show her, gladly.

The stake squelched through Elena's chest, and a stifled cry broke from her lips. More followed as Katherine removed her hand from Elena's throat, and she stepped back, satisfied. "Rule number one, Elena," she whispered cruelly as Elena began to claw frantically at her chest, "Katerina Petrova doesn't bluff." Spitefully, she grinned and rammed the stake deeper into Elena's heart.

Elena swayed in her position momentarily, before giving the stake one last feeble tug. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground. Katherine walked towards her, looming over her body with a satisfactory smirk on her face. Elena's previously un-shed tears leaked from her eyes, streaming down her olive cheeks like strands of silk. She gave another gasp, and then she was silent as her skin began to grey, and her veins pushed their way up from the surface.

Elena Gilbert was no more.

Katherine had no remorse over what she had just done, only satisfaction that Elena had been put in her place, and her annoying voice silenced forever, never to whine, never to grate on anyone's ears ever again. She stepped over Elena's corpse, and felt her smirk widen. Elena had came after her with the intent of killing her, but the tables had been turned. It was ironic, she was killed with her own weapon.

Footsteps made Katherine turn around, high on alert. Back in the tunnels, she had been expecting Silas, but instead she got Elena. Like Bonnie said, Silas could be anyone, anywhere, any _time_. Katherine walked forwards, trying to see who it was, but the footsteps stopped for a spilt second. They then started up again, and Katherine saw a figure run out towards Elena's desiccated body.

She saw Stefan's light brown hair in the dim light, and frowned as she saw his shoulders shaking. He really didn't see the benefit in Elena being dead? She shook her head and remembered that he had pined over her since she chose - and slept with - Damon, but Elena had caused him all that pain, so Katherine was doing him a favour.

"Hey handsome," She greeted him with a smile. He didn't turn around, and cradled Elena's head in his lap. Katherine's brows knotted into a tight line, she probably would have preferred it if Damon had came along and found them both, at least he wouldn't sit there and cry about it. That was what she liked about Damon, he rarely got upset and handled his problems the old-fashioned way.

"What did you do?" Stefan's voice was higher-pitched than usual, and cracked. Katherine watched as he pulled the stake from Elena's chest and started to rapidly shake her, his voice becoming incoherent as he tried to frantically revive his 'true love'. Katherine took some pleasure in knowing that she would never come back, and was going to jab at the metaphorical knife into Stefan's heart.

"What, don't I even get a thank you kiss for ridding you of her?" she chuckled, and walked over to him. He was silent, ignoring her and drowning in his own sorrows. She absent-mindedly wondered if it was enough to make him turn his humanity off, he was much more exciting like that.

"It's called self-preservation, Stefan. I'll always look out for myself," Katherine laid a hand on her shoulder, momentarily rehashing the feelings they had shared all those years ago, before withdrawing. "Regardless of who's trying to kill me," she gave Elena's body one last smug glance, and headed for the doorway. Before she passed through, she turned back around to Stefan, giving him a piece of advice she was sure he would do well to remember.

"Word of advice, if another one comes along, take Damon and get the hell out of here. Don't need to repeat history a third time, right? I take it twice was bad enough."


End file.
